In the food service industry, it is often necessary to leave cold food on display or in refrigerated preparation tables for an extended period of time. Current regulations require that these devices be able to hold the entire food product at a temperature of 41.degree. F. or less. However, the pans that hold the food themselves block air flow to the product, therefore making it difficult to maintain the temperature of the product in the pan at the required 41.degree. F. or less.
The food service industry has addressed this problem in three ways: (1) blowing cooled air across the top of the pan; (2) providing freon lines in the pan receptacel walls; and (3) using divider bars wrapped with freon lines betwen pans. It is difficult to maintain the requireed temperatures by blowing air across the pans, and using freon lines requires periodic defrosting of the serving/preparation tabels.
Historically, the tops of the pans were flush to the surface of the display or preparation tables. To meet the newly instituted requirements, users had to either significantly lower the pans, which is extremely inefficient in ergonomic terms, or they had to lower the temperature of the walls of the preparation/serving tables. Lowering the temperature of the walls led, in many cases, to the freezing of the contents of the pans. Moreover, the reduced wall temperatures caused the tables to require periodic defrosting.
Another problem that plagues users of food pans is the pans' jamming together when stacked. When the pans are stored, they are typically nested one inside another to conserve space. It is not uncommon for the pans to become so tightly wedged together that they are very difficult to separate. This problem has been recognized in the industry for some time, and has led to assorted methods of preventing pans from jamming together when stacked.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a food pan that allows better temperature regulation by improving air flow across the contents of the pan.
It is another object of the present invention to allow owners of existing refrigeration units to comply with current regulations by means of traditional cooling methods.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide food pans that can be stacked together without jamming.